AI-Powered Marketplaces: James McCarthy on FMCG Supply Chains, Digital Payments, and Retail Resilience
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/09/07
Part 2 of 2
James McCarthy, Vice President of Marketing at RedCloud Technologies, discusses marketplace technology, AI-driven insights, and digital payments. In this 2-part interview, he highlights the need for specialized fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) marketplaces, emphasizing supply chain transparency and demand prediction. AI enhances efficiency by helping brands, distributors, and retailers optimize inventory and reduce waste. Digital payments streamline transactions, but challenges remain in integrating them fully. McCarthy also addresses the 18% inventory gap and the resilience of independent retail despite e-commerce growth. RedCloud Technologies aims to leverage AI and data-driven solutions to enhance market penetration and consumer engagement through bundling strategies and predictive analytics.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: I see a couple of key points of contact here. One is consumer uptake and demand—ensuring the right supply is available. Another is the adoption of digital payments and their integration into the system.
These issues fall under the larger umbrella of customer or consumer engagement. How do you enhance consumer engagement with consumable goods and digital payment technology? Can these processes be integrated for optimization?
James McCarthy: That’s an interesting question. We are seeing a steady increase in digital payments, even in emerging markets where cash has traditionally been dominant. Cash usage is declining significantly in most markets, and contactless transactions are becoming the norm. What do you mean by engaging consumers with products?
Jacobsen: Sure. The most obvious gap between supply and demand is the 18% inventory gap, where consumers want unavailable products on shelves. The challenge is getting the right supply to the right locations and leveraging technology to predict demand more accurately. Additionally, integrating payments into this system could further streamline the process.
The payment side is a bit trickier, but I can give a practical example. In Vancouver, we have a transit system called SkyTrain, which uses a Compass Card. To use it, you must first purchase the card, load funds onto it, and connect it to a bank account for automatic reloads.
In contrast, in Ukraine, public transit payments are much more direct. You tap your Visa card to enter it without an intermediary system like a stored-value card. After tapping, you descend into the subway via long Soviet-era escalators to reach the station.
So, different systems create varying levels of efficiency. Some require extra intermediary steps, while others provide a more seamless, bank-connected experience. There are likely ways to streamline digital payments in retail to make consumer engagement smoother and more intuitive.
McCarthy: Oh yes, that’s correct., If you look at the datasets, based on the data we collect, our marketplace allows us to gather a significant amount of first-party information on how transactions and trade are happening.
Regarding consumer demand, we can analyze retail store throughput—how much product moves through them. We can also assess trade volume geographically for specific product categories and determine what types of products are selling and in what quantities.
This data allows us to make supply chain predictions based on factors like seasonality, helping us estimate future demand for various product categories and subcategories. Additionally, since we track which brands are being shipped, we can provide valuable insights to brand customers, helping them predict demand for their products.
However, what we do not track is the consumer point-of-sale transaction. When a customer purchases an item with a contactless card, we do not capture the sell-through data at the cash register.
Since we do not own or operate the point-of-sale (POS) systems, that part of the data remains outside our scope. However, we do know what products are being supplied to each store. Assuming that everything supplied is eventually sold, we can make informed estimates about consumer demand at a macro level.
Jacobsen: Is AI enabling more transparent and resilient supply chains?
McCarthy: Yes, it is. Primarily, AI helps sellers identify underserved market segments and discover ways to meet their needs more effectively.
Regarding resilience, AI is critical in helping the supply chain anticipate demand, ensuring that businesses can maintain sufficient stock levels to fulfill consumer needs.
Resilience is a particularly interesting challenge. It essentially means structuring supply chain operations to enable predictability, allowing businesses to plan, stock appropriately, and respond effectively to fluctuations in demand.
Let me clarify: Resilience is the outcome of predictability.
Jacobsen: What strategies should brands adopt to leverage digital platforms for better market penetration?
McCarthy: Brands need to analyze and predict consumer demand at a much more granular level—not just through supermarket chains and traditional distribution channels but also through local communities and specific consumer groups.
Rather than relying solely on tier-one distribution data, brands should strive for end-to-end visibility into how products move through the supply chain. By understanding who is buying their products at the final stage, they can gain much better insights into sales performance and demand forecasting.
Jacobsen: I’ve heard a lot about traditional retail potentially declining—things like shopping malls becoming obsolete as more consumers shift to online ordering. Is that trend having an impact on the market as well?
McCarthy: Not really. In some markets, there may be an impact, but when it comes to day-to-day consumer goods—particularly fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG)—local convenience stores, small supermarkets, and corner shops remain an integral part of the community, especially in urban areas.
You might do your weekly grocery shopping online and have it delivered, but you’re still likely to visit your local shop to pick up extra milk, bread, or other last-minute items you forgot to add to your online order.
In many countries, the relationship between independent retailers and their local communities remains very strong. This is especially true when these small retailers can stock the right products that their customers need.
Providing them access to a broader selection of brands, including leading ones, is essential to ensuring they can meet local consumer demand. This strengthens the value of independent retail at the street level.
Jacobsen: How can retailers use AI-driven insights to personalize customer experiences and drive sales?
McCarthy: One way to do this is through bundling. We’ve been working with some of our customers to recommend combinations of products that complement each other and match consumer buying habits. Bundling strategies help retailers optimize product offerings. By analyzing data on consumer behaviour, we can identify which products are frequently purchased together and recommend bundling them in-store.
This allows retailers to create promotional offers encouraging customers to buy complementary items, enhancing their shopping experience and increasing sales.
We’ve seen some strong results with this approach. It’s all data-driven, ensuring the recommendations are based on purchasing patterns.
In the future, we envision a space within our marketplace where these bundles will be automatically generated and recommended, which is exactly our direction.
Jacobsen: James, thank you for your time and the opportunity today.
McCarthy: My pleasure.
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